With the decision made came to the demoralising trek back down the mountainside, for the entrance to the Dwarven kingdom was far closer to the base of the mountain that it was to the hights of the pass. Boromir and Aragorn had cleared a wide track on their way up so that at least eased the walk down. Legolas and Rekena joined the others in the snow channel, their ability to waltz on the snow above the other's did not seem to help the Hobbits' sullen mood, so they resigned themselves to trudge along with the others.

Rekena dreaded the fact that they may actually enter Moria and the mines beneath the mountain. So little had been heard for so long, and the whispers had not been encouraging. Even if their brethren had managed to breach the gate and take the upper halls, Moria had been lost for so long and such evil brewed within its walls and caverns – was there ever really any hope of success?

The mountain seemed to have let go of its vendetta against them, for their passage back down was far simpler and void of all but the simplest of treacheries, the thick banks of clouds had given way to a soupy mist that clung to the exposed rock.

The pace was slowing, but it seemed like they were nearing the entrance, glyphs and carvings hewed from the rock were becoming more frequent – some were so well hidden it was likely only Gimli and herself were seeing them. They were for dwarven eyes only.

"There are many powers in this world for good or for evil." She heard Gandalf whispering to Frodo, the Wizard giving him advice in hushed tones. "Some are greater than I am, and against some, I have not yet been tested."

"Ah!" Gimli yelled, drawing her attention away from Gandalf warnings. "The Walls of Moria."

And there they were, above them rose a great sheer cliff – the face of exposed rock that held the door.

"Dwarven doors are invisible when closed," Rekena spoke, laying her hand to the rock and running her fingers against it. Gimli took a more direct approach, tapping the rock face with his axe.

"Their own masters cannot find them if their secrets are forgotten!" Gandalf exclaimed.

"Why does that not surprise me." A voice whispered behind her; the words so quiet they only graced her ears – for it was only for her to hear.

She attributed the raised hairs on her neck and arms to a sudden gust of wind moved away from the wall; Gandalf took her place – running his hands over a smooth section of rock as if he could entice Moria of her secrets.

The wizard hummed and muttered to himself, but she could make out one word as he brushed away decades-old dirt. Ithildin.

"It mirrors only starlight." Turning his face to the sky, a gentle smile settled on his face. "And moonlight."

As he spoke, the light of the moon awoke the ancient carvings, revealing an ornate door with an inscription around the arch that encased it. There was no lock for a key or handle on the door. Gimli had never laid eyes on the door before, and Rekena had only been to the Dimrill Gate, not the western entrance – the moonlight had illuminated a most ancient and precious sight to them both.

Gandalf raised his staff to the writing. "It reads 'The Doors of Durin, Lord of Moria, Speak Friend and Enter'"

"What do you suppose that means?" Merry asked.

"Oh, it's quite simple. If you are a friend, you speak the password, and the doors will open." Placing the tip of his staff in the centre, he spoke. "Annon Edhellen, edro hi ammen!"

Nothing happened.

Gandalf's brow furrowed, and he cleared his throat. Holding up his hands and staff in a most commanding fashion, he tried again.

"Fennas Nogothrim, lasto beth lammen."

Still, nothing happened. Gimli grunted, to which Rekena snicked, which earned her a look from Legolas, that sort of feeling that someone was watching you with equal part disapproval and mirth.

"Nothing is happening." Pippin usefully pointed out to Legolas and Reken.

"I once knew every spell in all the tongues of elves, men and orcs," Gandalph muttered, pressing his hands to the rock. The door would not budge.

"What are you going to do then?"

"Knock your head against these doors, Peregrin Took! and if that does not shatter them and I'm allowed a little peace from foolish questions, I will try to find the opening words." His patience had worn thin, the looming threat of Saruman and his curses may have left the minds of the fellowship, but it still plagued him.

Realising that the door would not be so easily cracked, they took their place upon the various rocks scattered around the entranceway.

"I know they are magic words on a dwarvish gate, but I recognise those stars," Pippin said, looking at those sat around him for answers.

"Valacirca, seven stars set in the sky by Varda as a sign of doom for Melkor and hope for the Elves," Legolas explained, but he wasn't the only one with an answer for Pippin.

"We always called in the Burning Briar," Sam said, his smile wistful as he thought back the shire.

"Bilbo had two names for it," said Frodo. "The Sickle of the Valar and my favourite – the Seven Butterflies."

"All dwarves know it by a single name – Durin's Crown, carved above the door for our greatest King. The stars formed part of his vigil."

"I saw it not so long ago in the sky back when we were in Bree – it was rising above the shoulder of the Bree-hill." Frodo eyes misted over as he revisited the memory. "It has been a while since the stars brought me such comfort."

"The stars blessed the brow of the King; it is a blessing to lay eyes on them." Rekena smiled.

"Ando Eldarinwa a lasta quettanya, Fenda Casarinwa!" It seemed Gandalf was still making little progress.

Out the corner of his eye, Sam saw Aragorn offloading the baggage from his pony and sprang to his feet to help him. Frodo stood but instead made his way to Gandalf's side to look upon the doors writing. Merry and Pippin had scuttled off, and Gimli was busy caressing the stone walls to try and unearth its secrets.

"What troubles you?" Legolas asked her; she had taken perch on one of the higher rocks, so he sat below her.

"What makes you ask that?"

"You seemed unnerved, that is all."

"There are secrets under that mountain – things that should remain undisturbed and untouched. Gimli looks for answers to questions I fear even to ask."

"What do you and Gandalf know that the others do not?"

"Foul things dwell in the depths of Moria."

"It's a riddle!" Shouted Frodo, jumping as he exclaimed his discovery. "Speak, friend, and enter. The elvish word for friend!"

"Mellon."

The door swung upon to his words.

"Soon, Mr Elf, you will enjoy the fabled hospitality of the dwarves. Roaring fires! Malt Beer! Red Meat off the bone!"

Rekena allowed her mind to drift to happier times as the two of them began to reminisce.

"Welcome to the home of our cousin Balin; your uncle knew him well, Frodo," Rekena told the young Hobbit, a fondness on her tongue as she spoke of her cousin and of Bilbo.

"And they call it a mine!" Exclaimed Gimli, but as Gandalf's staff began to illuminate the entrance before them, the light cast over corpses and skeletons from the threshold and then deep within the cavern.

"This isn't a mine," Boromir, his head swinging around, but all his eyes could find were more of the dead, "it's a tomb!"

Strewn across the floor lay the long-fallen bodies of dwarves, arrow shafts protruding from every angle. Gimli let out a soul-wrenching cry dropping to the floor beside one of the bodies. These were their kin, their people – if they looked closely enough, they probably would know the faces of the fallen.

Rekena's knuckles brushed against Legolas' as her arms lay limply at her side – she knew that coming to Moria was a mistake but still could never have anticipated this. His hand moved and fell on her shoulder, a sign of comfort and support, but quickly he moved for something had caught his eye. Bending down, he pulled an arrow from one of the skeletons.

"Goblins!"

Aragorn and Boromir drew their swords as soon as they heard the cursed name. Legolas had an arrow notched on his bow as well, but Rekena was too riled up to even think about drawing a sword of the bow; instead, she snarled and bared her dirk – come what may, she was ready to tear the enemy apart.

"We make for the Gap of Rohan!" Boromir shouted. "We never should have come here."

The Hobbit's huddled together in a defence position filtering in behind the other's, Rekena and Legolas covered as the other ran for the door, but it seemed that there was no escape from evil for them.

"Frodo, Frodo!" Merry and Pippin screamed; Rekena didn't dare turn around for fear a Goblin would get the jump on her but slowly backed out toward the door. It seemed as though she would not have to wait to investigate. A thick and heavy mass had begun to wind its way up her leg, but in the chaos, she hadn't noticed that the newly applied pressure to her lower leg was neither bone nor rock but very animate and alive.

Her eyes widened, and she just managed to make out the word Legolas before she was ripped off her feet and dragged from the cave.

Her hands flailed as she tried to find purchase or grip on something, but the initial fall had winded her, her vision blurred and breath short nothing seemed to stick as the monster dragged her faster and faster toward the water. The lake that moments before Pippin and Merry had been tossing stones into now seemed to have come to life – a life twisted in vengeance and malice, but she had little time to give that thought. She was almost as water's edge now; out the corner of her eye, she could see the Hobbit wrestle with the creature for Frodo, who seemed to have also been captured by the lake creature.

Spinning onto her back, she drove the dirk down into the tentacle until the blade hit the rock on the other side, but that seemed to only antagonise the beast as suddenly many tentacles burst forth from the water, at least two more twisting their way around her leg and pulling her in.

Screaming in frustration, Rekena began wildly hacking at the limbs; in reply, the creature sharply pulled her towards the water, the rapid motion sent her head flying back into the ground, and with a bang, she was out.

Legolas watched in horror as the beast hoisted Rekena's limp body into the air. The creature seemed to have knocked her unconscious; he quickly loosed an arrow but the creature too it more as an insult than injury.

Boromir and Aragorn began a futile campaign of hacking and slashing, but the creature seemed unperturbed. Frodo squirmed as he too was raised into the air; he had to be careful that with every arrow he fired, they didn't land in the writhing Hobbit or the deadly still Rekena.

Aragorn had now managed to locate and sever the tentacle holding Frodo and Boromir caught the Hobbit as he fell, but Rekena was still aloft. His arrows seemed to have to impact on the beast, but he tried again as the creature's skin rolled aside to reveal a gaping mouth filled with rows and rows of razor-like teeth, and it appeared as though Rekena was being lowered into that very maw.

"Aragorn," Legolas shouted, trying to get his attention. Another arrow landed on the beast, this time loosening one of the many tentacles from her leg.

As Boromir struggled to get out of the water with Frodo, Aragorn and Legolas charged deeper, still trying to retrieve Rekena. In the back of his mind, Legolas could hear Gimli's panicked cries from shore – the water was far too deep for him to wade into, and dwarves were not water-born creatures.

"Aragorn!" His voice was now far more panicked. Boromir had deposited Frodo with the others and surged back into the water to help; as Boromir took his place, Aragorn swapped from hacking to shooting, sending his own volley of arrows toward the beast.

In rapid succession, everything seemed to fall into place, a well-placed swing from Boromir and two arrows meeting their mark, and suddenly Rekena was hurtling toward the earth. If not for his reflexes, he likely would have been flattened; catching a Hobbit is one thing, but an elven height woman in dwarfish garb was an entirely different matter.

He caught her, though.

"Into the mines!" Gandalf called, rallying the others into the dark.

The Fellowship hurried once more through the door and into the caves, the creature's tentacles surged after them, but as it tore and scraped at the door, it inadvertently brought the door down upon itself, sealing them in.

With a cough and splutter, Rekena came too, her eyes flying open and looking around in confusion. Her legs kicked, and her fist tightening around the blade, but when she realised where she was, who was holding her, she settled down.

"Shh, you are safe." He reassured her, still not letting her go but perhaps holding her even closer.

"That is twice now."

"What is?" His eyes narrowed in confusion, the others were rushing around the cave trying to gather their thoughts and bearings, but they still content in each other presence and lost in each other's gaze.

It was a magnetism that felt both dangerous and addictive.

"That you have saved me, that is twice now." She smiled gently, looking up at him.

"Hopefully, there will be no need for a third time." He whispered, putting her down. There was no smile on his face; all he could see was her dangling lifelessly in the air – it was an image that would not so quickly leave him.

"I would not be so sure, but perhaps then I can save you." She joked, nudging his arm gently, trying to coerce some sort of smile from him.

"Perhaps." His wall began to fade. His will was strong enough to keep a smile from appearing on his face, but she could see it in the creases of his eyes; she had made him laugh even it was just on the inside. 

There was not much else to be happy for, though, with the doors crashing in, they were now trapped in the mines of Moria with all unthinkable manner of darkness in there with them.